Teen Trauma
by Tomorrowsoul
Summary: Part one of the teen trauma series. Set ten years on from the day that Sportacus and Stephanie came to Lazytown. With the kids no longer kids anymore and entering the most difficult phase of their lives, can Sportacus manage to support them through or will it become too much for him to handle? Are the friendships forged in childhood still as strong as they were then?
1. Chapter 1

Teen Trauma

A rush of cool air greeted him as he stepped out onto the open door which served an exterior viewing platform. Throwing his arm above his shoulder he grabbed the telescope that was tucked between his back and backpack and swung it to extend it, placing it to his eye in a fluid motion. As he surveyed the ground below him he began to think back to the day that he had first come here, ten years ago. The view he had looked upon then was much different to that which he looked upon today.

Back then the town had been neglected. Weeds and rubbish littering every open space. Poorly maintained gates hanging from hinges and walls fallen to rubble. What small amount of sports equipment that the town had, and was visible, was in a sorry state, broken and unusable. Though the town had had obvious potential to be a nice place it looked unloved but he knew that wasn't the case. On meeting the Mayor, Mayor Meanswell, he'd seen what the poor man was up against, trying to undertake his Mayoral duties while being responsible for maintaining the upkeep of the town, the time he'd had for the latter taken up in wooing his assistant.

In addition to the obstacles of trying to win the affection of his assistant, the Mayor had also been restricted by the culture of laziness the kids in the town had fallen into. A culture propagated by a villain named Robbie Rotten. Through blatant bribery and simple tricks of coercion he'd ensured that the town would remain as he wanted it, devoid of activities outside and 'playing'.

At least until the day that Mayor Meanswell's niece, Stephanie, had come to town.

Within hours the pink haired girl had set upon a path to change the town. She'd tried resolutely to introduce the other children in the town into a world outside of computer games in darkened rooms but had been thwarted by the master of lazy. After a brief spell of disappointment she'd managed to turn herself around and reignite her Uncle's spark and remind him that as Mayor it was his responsibility, one that he had seemed to have forgotten, to get things tidy. Though this plan had momentarily stumbled through the Mayor's realisation of the size of the task before him, there was still hope as he remembered a legend of a hero that had once come to the town, remaining there for a while, who they could call upon to help them restore the town.

Immediately Stephanie had acted upon this, taking the tube her Uncle had found and sending a letter up into the sky in hope of an answer. It was a simple note but one that she had sent from the heart.

A note that had summoned him, Sportacus, to come to her aid.

He'd responded, sending a note of his own before arriving at the town. Meeting the young girl that had called upon him, introducing himself to her and enjoying her open admiration. Almost straight away he'd gotten to work – rushing to save one of the children who'd fallen foul of a practical joke before very quickly saving another of the children from falling, finding himself rapidly called upon to save Miss Busybody, the Mayor's assistant from one of Robbie's rotten traps.

With new forged friendships and plenty to keep him busy, he'd decided to stay.

In another swift motion he took the telescope from his eye, clicked it back to its original size and clipped it back onto his back. Though ten years had passed, and done so with reasonable quickness, he still felt the love he had for the town from that very first day. He'd helped the others restore it, watched it blossom before his very eyes and helped to keep it the place it deserved to be. Yes, he'd come against resistance on and off and Robbie's attempts to get him to leave had grown tiresome but it hadn't dulled the buzz he woke up with every morning, wondering what the day would bring.

He'd watched the children grow up over the last ten years, seeing them go from children to the teenagers they were now. If back when he'd first come to the town he'd worried that he wouldn't be needed as they grew, experience would tell him he had nothing to worry about.

As he felt the familiar tingle before the crystal in the case on his chest flared into life, showing him the trouble that was occurring, he knew they needed him as much if not more now as they had then.


	2. Chapter 2

He'd responded to the call of his crystal within seconds but already the fight was in full swing. Fists were flying and feet were being kicked out as they tried to reach a target. Angry shouts mingled with growls and bursts of breath born of violent exertion. Quickly coming between the two parties, Sportacus pulled them apart and forced himself into the middle, blocking a punch that had been thrown just moments before his intervention and shielding his leg from a misdirected kick. It seemed as though his arrival and forcibly parting the two fighters had done little to quell their anger towards one another as they tried to continue their fight, ducking to either side of him in an attempt to get a clear shot.

Seeing that simply coming between the two and blocking them one another wasn't enough Sportacus turned, placed a hand on each combatants' chest and pushed them away. Both stumbled back, momentarily dazed before attempting to reach each other again. It was an action that Sportacus saw coming and placed himself in the way again shouting, "Stingy! Ziggy! STOP _NOW_!"

All fight seemed to drain out of the boys as the rare sound of Sportacus raising his voice stopped them in their tracks. This had perhaps been the second time in their lives that they'd heard him shout. For a few moments they simply stood, staring at him, one with his mouth hanging open the other with his tightly shut but both with eyes wide. They spared the briefest look at one another before turning their attention back to the hero who stood in a wide stance, arms folded and head angled down – his piercing blue eyes fixed on both of them.

"Now who is going to tell me what that was about?" Sportacus queried, his tone serious.

In a flurry of breath and vigorous pointing, Ziggy pointed at Stingy. "He called me lardy!"

Sportacus raised his head, furrowing his brow as he looked directly at Stingy and repeated, "Lardy?"

Defiance flashed across Stingy's features for a moment at the disappointment he could see on Sportacus' and he refused to speak.

Shaking his head, Sportacus flexed his arms. His expression stony he looked back to Ziggy who was beginning to develop a nasty bruise on the right side of his chin, an evident result of an on target jab from Stingy.

"Go home and put some ice on that," He ordered, indicating the spot to Ziggy who duly did as he was told. Once the former 'superhero outfit' wearer had moved out of earshot, he turned again to Stingy, "Why did you call him that?"

"Because that's what he is," Stingy retorted, still angry from the fight before.

"Regardless of what size or weight he or anyone is you have no right to call people names." Sportacus' voice was uncharacteristically firm as he reprimanded Stingy, "Especially when they're your friends."

"I'll do what I want and I'll call anyone what I want when I want!" Stingy protested loudly before storming off, much more similar to the seven year old he'd been as compared to the seventeen year old he was now.

Eyes fixed on Stingy's retreating back with a look of disdain on his face, Sportacus swept his hand backwards over his forehead, dropping it as he reached his hat. He failed to see the need Stingy had had to cause an argument with Ziggy, especially hitting such a delicate nerve as his friend's weight.

Despite trying to motivate Ziggy to eat more healthily and get his ever increasing weight under control, Sportacus had found it difficult to get the gummy guzzler to conquer his love of sweets and candy. He'd tried introducing a balanced food plan for the boy, allowing him candy as long as it was supplemented with extra helpings of vegetables but had found that for every extra portion of vegetables Ziggy was putting away extra portions of candy. He'd attempted to try rationing the amount of candy Ziggy had but had discovered a secret stash by chance, immediately undoing his assumption that he was breaking through with Ziggy asking him for less and less sugar. The only success he'd reached upon was an exercise programme that they worked on together. It seemed to help but he couldn't shake his concern that in Ziggy's expectation for rapid results from simply exercising, and his minimal understanding despite numerous explanations that his sugar consumption was directly linked to his weight issue, that Ziggy was comfort eating, trying to compensate for his disappointment.

After all these years, encouraging all the other kids to eat healthily and exercise, take pride in themselves in achieving what they thought was unachievable it saddened him that one of the five seemed beyond his reach. Seeing Ziggy struggling as he was he couldn't help but feel like he had failed him. It was no consolation to him that he couldn't control what Ziggy put in his body, nor he could demand what he ate or when – as a hero, as someone devoted to saving people's lives and making them the best he could be, there was no room for failure. There had to be another way to help Ziggy and perhaps his fight with Stingy would give the candy kid enough of a kick to stick to his resolution.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know, I was enjoying that show." The sudden voice that broke into Sportacus' conscious mind made him jump and he whirled around, coming face to face with Trixie. "It was just getting interesting when you showed up," She commented, a half smile curving her darkly painted lips.

Not quite sure how to respond to the last, or the tone that Trixie had spoken it in, Sportacus said nothing. She, like the others, had changed as she'd grown but somehow the change in her had seemed less dramatic. She was still the same troublemaker, still loud and tough, but long had the days where she'd worn her hair in pigtails gone. As they had been grown out of so to had the red sleeved shirt she'd loved, the cartoon character on the front. Now it was replaced with a tight, almost too revealing, black v necked top, torn for effect across the midriff. An equally black PVC jacket complimented it and tight jeans now adorned her legs where she'd once worn baggy red trousers. Heavy, chain clad, boots finished her outfit, a replacement for the trainers she'd always favoured. Though extreme her choice of clothing was to him, he'd found her choice of hairstyle even more so. She'd had both sides of her head shaved, a Mohican style left in the middle terminating in a ponytail, what was left of her hair dyed bright purple. Looking at her now he wondered what she looked like, devoid of the layers of make-up she wore, her eyes always painted dark and her lips even more so. It seemed so long since he'd seen her without it he wondered if he'd recognise her, if not for her hair giving her away.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer." Trixie's voice broke through his mind again.

Shaken from his reverie Sportacus realised with embarrassment that he'd been staring at her. Rubbing the back of his head he smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Trixie drawled casually before frowning a little, "You are ok aren't you? They didn't hit you? I know you blocked one. Do you need any Sports Candy?"

"No, no, I'm fine." He replied, appreciating that despite her radical change of appearance Trixie still had a soft side. "Are you going to the party later?" He asked, changing the subject and hoping to clear some of the awkwardness he felt out of the air.

"The 'ten year anniversary of Stephanie and Sportacus in Lazytown' surprise party that none of us are supposed to know about?"

Sportacus chuckled, after all these years Mayor Meanswell still couldn't keep a surprise party secret. "Yeah that's the one."

"I might," Trixie shrugged, "There isn't really anything else I had planned for tonight. It's at six o clock right?"

"Er, yeah I think so."

"Cool, I'll get there at eight." Trixie announced, waving goodbye and heading for home.

A smile slanted Sportacus' lips as he watched her back, shaking his head. He couldn't help but love her attitude sometimes and the confidence with which she carried herself.

Thinking of Ziggy he turned around and went towards the candy cruncher's house, needing to make sure he was ok.

"A party?" Robbie Rotten asked the empty space around him, taking his eyes from the periscope he'd been watching first the fight through then Trixie and Sportacus' conversation. "Another party I haven't been invited to?" He continued glumly, sloping from the platform he was standing on and aiming for his fuzzy chair.

Throwing himself back into it, his feet pointed upwards with his heels on the ground, hands and arms on either armrest, shoulders pressed into the back, he dropped his chin onto his chest, sulking. It wasn't unusual for him to be neglected from the guest list of town parties but this one was a big one.

A special one.

"What am I thinking?" He called out suddenly, sitting up, "Why would I want to go to a party that celebrated the tenth anniversary of Sporta-snore and Pinky coming to town? After all," He paused, well aware he was only talking to himself, "It's their fault that everything changed, they ruined everything!"

And indeed, in Robbie's mind, they had. Before Stephanie had come to town he'd had the kids in his grasp. All he had to do to keep them quiet and indoors where they were out of his way was supply them with a few computer games and plenty of candy, even the occasional cake had done the trick. He'd turned them from playful, noisy, outdoors loving, town-looking-after and keeping-everything-tidy kids to computer-game-playing, outdoors-hating, staying-inside-where-he-couldn't-hear-them lazies.

It had been perfect.

Until he'd witnessed the Pink one walking into town.

Something had told him instantly that this one was going to be a lot harder to bring round to his way of thinking. She'd looked stubborn. She'd had an energy he'd all but depleted in the others. He'd watched her make her way over to Pixel's house with Ziggy, hoping that he'd given the other kids enough computer games to keep them too busy to want to have anything to do with this new kid.

Unfortunately it appeared he'd underestimated her, and overestimated the others, as he saw them walking with her to the outside. She'd tried to show them various forms of exercise that they'd watched reluctantly before slowly joining in, awkwardly trying to mimic her movements.

He'd seen then he had to ask fast.

What he'd seen through the periscope was worse in person. The pink girl dancing and singing, the others starting to join her. He'd reached them just in time to stop his work being undone as Trixie kicked the soccer ball. Catching it, he'd made his entrance, slowly revealing himself from behind the gate to the sports field. Trixie had handled the introduction, describing him as he thought, perfectly.

Within seconds he'd made light work bringing the kids back to his ways. All it had taken was some candy, a computer game and a small amount of coercion – not to mention using Stingy's worst personality trait to his advantage. Of course, the pink one was instantly unhappy and he was glad at his victory. She'd been abandoned by the others and he'd watched the defiant happiness being wiped from her eyes.

He'd never expected it to be so easy.

But he should have expected that she'd bounce back, and quickly.

He still remembered the feeling of panic that gripped him when he'd seen her with the letter canister, his cries as she'd pulled the stopper he'd so painstakingly jammed into the chute. He'd watched in horror as she'd removed the weeds and placed the canister in the chute – yelling as she'd fired it into the air. He'd waited as anxiously as she had, watching the skies, waiting for a response. No one had come and he'd started to reassure himself that no one would.

Until a blue note flew from the sky and that's when Sportakook came to town.

Ever since that day, everything he'd worked for, everything he'd done, had been undone and despite numerous attempts he'd never been able to change things back, or get rid of the blue suited buffoon.

Of course he didn't want to go the party, '_Or do I?' _He thought with an evil smile as an idea formed in his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

It was perfect, or at least as perfect as it could be. Of course, he'd learnt by now that none of his wicked schemes ever worked, but this one was so simple it had to. There wasn't much of anything that could go wrong. He'd thought about it for as long as his lazy brain could stand, even mapping it out on his blackboard and he could see little room for error, except of course unless he was caught or was clumsy – as usual. No, this plan was a good one, it was a devilish one and one he was sure he could add to his book of successes – a very small, and empty, book it was indeed.

He'd long since considered giving up his attempts of trying to rid Lazytown of Sportacus, there hardly seemed a point to carry on now the kids weren't kids anymore and nowhere near as noisy as they'd been before. If anything over time, though they were still annoyingly active on occasion, they'd seemed to slip back to some of their old ways. He'd seen much less of Trixie, even less than he'd thought in the time it had taken him to recognise her since her latest change of appearance. The pink one only came during the summer – the summers seemingly growing shorter and shorter as she seemed to be able to spare a diminishing amount of time in amongst her commitments back home, '_wherever she lives_,' he thought dismissively. Ziggy could be seen from time to time running, or trying to run, around with Sportacus – '_Ugh!' _he retched. Stingy seemed to be outside the most frequently, apart from.….he stopped himself from thinking about 'him' in case he retched again – but it seemed the only form of transport the penny pincher used was his large yellow car, an almost exact replica of the toy one he'd ridden around in as a child.

And then there was Pixel. The elusive Pixel. Despite peering through his periscope on various occasions during the day he'd never been able to spy orange hat and glasses nor techno trainers of the Gizmo Guy. He wondered if Pixel still even lived in the town but he was sure if he'd moved he'd have known about it. Every once in a while, while spying on the goings on in town he'd hear Pixel's name being mentioned, most of the time from Stingy who it appeared spoke on the phone to him. It was a curious thing but one he shrugged off.

It didn't matter.

Returning his thoughts to his devilish scheme he wondered if this would be the key to making the Buffoon leave town. Yes, he'd given up a while ago but there was no harm in having one last try. It wasn't a plan that would necessarily make the hero leave but he hoped that if it was successful it would at least humiliate him in front of all his friends, perhaps, he hoped, enough so to drive him away.

Steepling his fingers he allowed himself to laugh at the images floating around his head before reaching out for his telephone receiver…..

While the cogs had been turning in Robbie's wicked mind there had another type of turning going on in Mayor Meanswell's kitchen.

Running the wooden spoon around the bowl, the Mayor folded flour into the cake mix he was making for tonight's party. He spied on the clock anxiously, waiting for the time the train carrying his niece would pull into the station. A short walk after getting off the train and she'd be there, all pinkness and smiles coming through the front door.

He'd hoped to have the cake for the party done by now but he'd been disturbed by the noise caused by the fight between Stingy and Ziggy. Unwilling to go outside and get in the middle of what had looked like a full on battle he'd watched from the safety of his window, breathing a sigh of relief when Sportacus appeared on the scene, though his relief had been short lived and followed by his usual exclamation of "oh my!" when a punch had been thrown, the hero's quick reaction saving him from being hit by it. He'd soon repeated his "oh my!" on hearing the hero shout in anger, a very rare occurrence that he'd never expected to experience again.

It seemed lucky that Stephanie hadn't been around to see it but he was sure that Bessie would show her the video she'd most likely taken using her camera phone.

Quickly finishing folding the cake mix he put it into two cake tins before putting them in the oven. Making sure he set the timer to tell him when they were done, he allowed himself to sit down. It had been a busy day for him, though not spent at the Town Hall, he'd been at home making up Stephanie's old room. Every year after she'd gone home at the end of summer he'd ended up leaving knick knacks in there, things he'd moved from his overstuffed storage cupboard and every year before she arrived he'd spend the day trying to stuff everything back into it.

Looking up as he heard the door handle being pulled down he smiled at the sight of the familiar pink bangles on the thin wrist, the arm growing more visible as the door opened wider before his niece emerged fully.

"Hello, Stephanie!" He greeted warmly, getting up from his perch on the breakfast bar stool to greet her with a hug.

"Hello, Uncle Milford." She replied, returning the hug. "How are you?"

Breaking from the hug and placing his hands on his large stomach the Mayor smiled, "Oh I'm fine, Stephanie. And how are you? How was the train?"

"I wouldn't know, Uncle, I didn't get the train this time."

The Mayor frowned, a little confused, "What do you mean, Stephanie?"

Stephanie laughed, motioning with her hand that he should join her, "Come outside and I'll show you."

With a mixture of excitement and remaining confusion, he did as he was bid.

Brown eyes met blue as Stephanie left her Uncle's house and made immediate eye contact with Sportacus who was standing and admiring her shiny new, and very pink, car.

"Very nice," He nodded approvingly, running his hand over it then hugging Stephanie as she came to greet him.

"I'm glad you like it Sportacus," She gushed proudly.

"Well," Sportacus paused, a mischievous twinkle lighting up his eyes, "It's not my colour but I like it."

Stephanie laughed, shaking her head, her long pink hair waving with the movement. "Well I could hardly be seen driving a blue car could I?" She returned before turning to her Uncle, "What do you think, Uncle? Do you like it?"

"It's very nice, my dear. I didn't know you could drive."

"I passed my test a few months ago," She explained, still smiling, "It was so hard for me not to tell you, I wanted to surprise you."

"Oh! Well I have to say, Stephanie, that it's a very nice surprise." The Mayor affirmed.

"And I'm afraid I'm about to give you a nasty one," Pixel told the trio as he approached.

It had been a long time since Sportacus had seen Pixel outside of his house, his sudden presence surprising but he shook it off, focussing instead on the young man's words, a frown marring his forehead. "What do you mean, Pixel?"

"Listen to this," Pixel replied, swiping his fingers over his now touchscreen wrist computer.

"_Hello, Eddie's amazing emporium for everything anyone could ever need, Pixel speaking how can I help?"_

"_Hi, I'm looking for something specific."_ It was a voice Sportacus knew but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"_Well Sir, this is Eddie's amazing emporium for everything anyone could ever need, I'm sure we'll be able to find the item you're after."_

"_Good. In which case, I need a Catapult and about twenty four eggs. Ideally for immediate delivery. I have a blue-suited idiot I want to get rid of."_

"_Wait…..I knew I knew that voice…Robbie Rotten, it's you isn't it?"_

"_Poodle?" _The use of the nickname proved it.

"_It is you! What are you planning this time?"_

"_Oh….nothing….."_ The discovered Robbie Rotten chuckled nervously before the line clicked off.

Pixel took in the expressions of the three people around him and turned to face Sportacus, "I took that call five minutes ago. I think it's safe to say he's planning something for tonight."

A stony faced Sportacus nodded, Pixel was definitely right.


	5. Chapter 5

"Damn it!" Robbie yelled, slamming the receiver down on the phone, his anger at being discovered so quickly echoing around his lair.

He had to rethink, he had to come up with an alternative fast. With his plan failing almost immediately and with Pixel's inevitable interference the others would be suspicious. He had no time to come up with another elaborate plan or to fabricate something inventive enough that would help him spoil tonight's proceedings. His only option was to use what he had available to him around his lair.

Getting up from his chair he stalked over to his storage cabinets, arms swinging from side to side as his legs took massive strides. Throwing open the storage cabinets' doors he knelt down strewing their contents all over the floor.

Nothing.

Nothing he could think of combining to make a good trick or trap.

He moved to the small kitchen space he'd installed some years before, adopting the same gait as he walked, opening and slamming closed all the cupboard doors as he searched through them, hoping something would jump out at him and give him an idea.

In the last cupboard he opened, something did.

"Ah ha!" He grinned, pulling the chocolate bar out of the cupboard and looking it over with his eyes smiling sinisterly.

The label on the chocolate bar told him this was something more than just ordinary chocolate and he tapped it against his chin as a wicked scheme began to unfold in his mind.

"I wonder….." He said to himself as the plan slowly started to take form and he placed the chocolate bar onto the counter.

He walked quickly into the bathroom, his knees creaking as he knelt down to look in the small unit beneath his sink. He reached in, hands searching through the odd bottles and packets it contained, his maniacal smile growing bigger as he found what he was looking for.

Pushing himself to sit on his haunches, grunting as he did so, he pulled out the box he'd been looking for. Carrying it into the kitchen he picked up the chocolate bar with his other hand and held them up side by side. A feeling of excitement was tingling in his belly as he looked at them, linking them with his plan.

"This is for Stephanie," He told himself, holding up the chocolate bar, "And this…" He lowered the chocolate bar and raising the box, "This is for Sportacus." He continued, breaking into deep, guttural laughter. "This is going to be brilliant!"

Sportacus stood by the window, arms folded, trying to rid himself of the temptation to go and pay Robbie a visit. This was his tenth anniversary of being in the town and he was determined not to let the villain spoil it, not for him and not for anyone else. His only hope was that in being foiled before he'd even been able to do anything, Robbie wouldn't try any nastiness.

Stephanie seemed to share his thought as he felt her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Sportacus, Robbie probably won't try anything. He's already been rumbled and he's got to be smart enough to know we'll be expecting whatever it is he was going to try to do."

"Yeah, you're right." Sportacus smiled, turning away from the window and hugging Stephanie. When they broke from the hug he looked over to Pixel who was sitting looking incredibly uncomfortable in the Mayor's armchair in the corner, "How are you doing Pixel?"

"Ok, I-"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Pinky." Trixie interrupted, making her entrance into the kitchen – unannounced as had become her usual style.

Stephanie's eyes opened wide as she took in Trixie's daring outfit and unique hairstyle, "Wow, Trixie. You look…different."

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Pixel muttered, drawing Trixie's attention.

Trixie twisted her face into an expression of mock shock as she laid her eyes on Pixel. "Now isn't that a surprise? Pixel outside his techno-dungeon. I can't believe I'm seeing this. You've actually been outside and come in here. You know for someone with alleged 'agoraphobia' that isn't normal."

"Normal?" Pixel took affront, standing up he pointed a finger at Trixie, walking towards her as he spoke. "You, of all people want to talk about things being normal? The last time you looked anything like remotely normal was when you were twelve years old and not in pigtails!"

Trixie snarled and swung her hand out to slap Pixel but found her attempt blocked by Sportacus, his hand gripping her wrist.

"Stop it," He warned, moving between the two. "I've already broken up one fight today and I don't want to break up another."

Turning angry eyes on Sportacus and cursing under her breath, Trixie snatched her wrist from his hand and stormed out, almost knocking over the Mayor who had come in carrying a plate of snacks, slamming the door behind her.

"A fight? You broke up a fight?" Stephanie questioned when she'd gotten over her surprise at Trixie's display, her brow furrowed and head cocked to one side. It didn't take her long to work out that two people hadn't arrived yet. "Where are Stingy and Ziggy?"

Altering his stance and crossing his arms, Sportacus shook his head. This was going to be a tough one to explain.


	6. Chapter 6

Stephanie licked her lips as she waited outside the door to Ziggy's house. She'd knocked but so far there had been no answer and she guessed it had been a few minutes. Holding her finger up to the bell press she wondered if she should push it, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, unwilling to make it seem like she was rushing him if he was busy or on his way to the door. Taking a breath she decided to knock again, a little louder than she had before – especially as she wondered at the possibility that he might not have heard her first knock.

This time there seemed to be a response as she heard footsteps on the other side of the door before the handle was pushed down and it opened. Her eyes brimmed with sympathy and concern as she looked him up and down, her face mirroring the sincerity that he heard in her voice as she whispered, "Oh, Ziggy."

It had been a year since she'd seen him, a year that she could see had been tough for him. She could see his shyness where he'd once been a confident, exuberant, chatty young boy that had followed those traits into his teenage years. Now as she'd witnessed him flinch at her seeing him like this she could see only sadness and low self-esteem. Beneath it all there was still a flicker of what had been there before, she was sure of it, he just needed help to find it.

She held her arms out, awkwardly, inviting him in for a hug to say hello. He hesitated, still hanging onto the door but let it go and moved into the hug, wrapping his arms around her.

"Sportacus told me about the fight you and Stingy had," Stephanie confronted the issue straight on, bringing it out as she stood with her chin on his shoulder. "I was hoping I'd see you at the party."

Ziggy pulled back, loosening his hold on her. "I thought….I didn't know if it would be….you know, awkward if Stingy was there too."

"He didn't come, maybe he feels the same as you?"

"Yeah, maybe. Is there still a party?"

Stephanie smiled, "Yeah, once we've got everyone together we'll start. Sportacus has gone to talk to Stingy and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to Trixie's?"

"Erm…yeah, sure. Just let me get changed first, ok?"

Stephanie smiled and nodded in response, watching Ziggy move back into the house and close the door.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

She gritted her teeth, sucking air through them as she ran the blade through her flesh. The pain from the cut dulled the pain she felt inside, the feeling of the warm blood escaping down her arm seemed to release it. It was bad, she knew, but it made her feel better – until she felt guilty. The first time she'd done it she'd expected Sportacus to come crashing through the door, it was hard to know what registered on his radar and what didn't. When he hadn't come she'd made a second cut, cutting again and had been cutting ever since when she'd felt the need.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Trixie?" She asked her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes following the thin trail of blood running down her arm. Her reflection showed her what she'd not wanted to see, the collection of cuts scattered along her upper arms.

She didn't know how she'd even started cutting herself or the reason why. All she knew was that it made her feel better and helped her keep her mind clear of what hurt her. It helped her get through the day.

The sound of her doorbell ringing startled her and she dropped the blade, snapping her head round to look in the direction of the door.

"Who is it?" She called, tentatively, trying to shield her voice from the sudden fear of being discovered.

"It's Stephanie. I've got Ziggy with me, we were wondering if you wanted to come back to the party."

Quickly donning her jacket, Trixie moved to the door. On her way out of her bedroom she grabbed a towel from the radiator, pulling her jacket down over her shoulders to dab at the bleeding wound she'd inflicted on herself. Once she satisfied it wouldn't give her away she pulled her jacket back up, adjusting it until it felt comfortable before throwing the towel back in the bathroom and walking over to the front door. She unlocked it, pulling down the handle and opening it she leaned against the jamb.

"I guess." She replied in her casual 'nothing can affect me' tone. "I promise not to paste Pixel's face. Speaking of pasting," She reached out a hand to indicate the bruise on Ziggy's jaw, "Does that hurt?"

Ziggy went to shake his head but nodded instead, "A little. It'll be fine."

"You sure? I can always give Stingy a matching one if it would make you feel better."

Stephanie rolled her eyes before turning a slightly scorning look on her best friend, "I thought Sportacus had said he didn't want to break up any more fights."

"Well….." Trixie trailed off with a shrug.

"Who else was fighting?" Ziggy asked, looking at Stephanie first and then at Trixie, the penny then dropping – "You started a fight with Pixel?"

"Tried," Trixie shrugged again, standing up straight and leaving her spot by the door jamb to exit her house and close the door behind her. She locked it and started walking in the direction of the Mayor's house, the others following behind her and listening to her as she continued – "Sportacus jumped in before I could do anything. I guess in a way it was probably handy."

"Why are you guys fighting so much? I know there's been the odd time where you guys haven't gotten along, even when I was coming every summer, but things have never been this bad." Stephanie tried to find an answer.

"A lot's changed since last summer, Pinky." Trixie turned around, walking backwards to talk to her friend. "Stingy is just, Stingy. He's not happy at the moment, no one's really sure why or what's up with him. We try to talk to him about it but he just pushes us away, he's better when you just act like everything is normal and there's nothing wrong. I think Ziggy tried to push him too far earlier, hence the fight. As for me and Pixel…..it might have something to do with the fact I broke up with him."

Stephanie stopped dead in her tracks, a look of amused intrigue on her face – "You and Pixel? You were dating?"

Trixie didn't stop walking as she nodded her head and turned back around, "Like I said, a lot has changed since last summer."

"It certainly has." Stephanie shook her head as she broke into a jog to catch up with her friends.


	7. Chapter 7

The light hum of conversation in the room subsided as the door opened and the others returned. Pixel and Stingy looked up from their place at the table, both making awkward eye contact with the people they'd wronged – as briefed by Sportacus they stood up, walking over to Ziggy and Trixie respectively and stood in front of them.

"I'm sorry," They apologised in unison, obviously having rehearsed and decided it would make them feel less awkward if they apologised at the same time. The brief look they'd shared with one another before speaking confirming their chosen action.

Ziggy was the first to respond, lifting a corner of his mouth up and taking a deep breath before pulling Stingy into a big bear hug. Stingy looked surprised for a moment before returning the hug, trying to squeeze Ziggy as hard as he was being squeezed, both of them ending up laughing. A mutual nod was shared between them and they went to sit down, Ziggy throwing his arm over Stingy's shoulders as they walked over to the table.

Trixie cocked her head towards the table, holding eye contact with Pixel. "Shall we join them?"

Without waiting for an answer Trixie joined the two boys at the table, leaving Pixel standing where he was – sharing a look with Sportacus who was stood, arms folded, in the corner. Sportacus merely raised and lowered his eyebrows in response, throwing him a smile with it. Stephanie shrugged as she turned to smile at her Uncle.

Looking at her friends, all in the same room at last, something struck her. "Where's Bessie?"

"Right here," A familiar voice trilled.

Stephanie's mouth fell open as Bessie emerged from behind her Uncle. If it hadn't have been for the same bouffant blue hairstyle she'd never have recognised her Uncle's long time love interest. It seemed unfathomable but the older woman had completely transformed from a larger woman to a svelte figure, slimmer in every aspect than the last time she'd seen her. Gone was the usual red skirt suit, replaced now with a figure hugging, slim fit dress in the same colour. A pair of matching kitten heels completed her outfit.

"Bessie," Stephanie was still in awe, "You look…..amazing!"

Bessie grinned widely, "Thank you, dear. This is all down to a lot of work with Sportacus who has been very good. I must say you're looking very well yourself. How is everything going back home?"

"Good, thanks for asking. My job is working out well, I'm assistant instructor at the dance school now so that's really cool." Looking around to Pixel, Stephanie asked him, "How's your job going, Pixel?"

Pixel pulled a face, "It's from home which is ok I guess, I don't have to leave the house which is a definite bonus and just have to clock in and out via a computer system. The hours are fine, pay is decent for what it is and you get to speak to some pretty cool people. I don't have to worry about not getting on with my colleagues as they're all either in the big call centres or home workers like me and I'm pretty much my own boss, just have to take the phone calls, arrange for the orders on the system and take the payments. I guess it's all good except for when you have to take phone calls from Robbie Rotten."

"Robbie Rotten?" Trixie frowned, "What's the old goon up to now?"

"Yeah. What's going on?" Ziggy joined, as in the dark as Trixie and Stingy on the matter.

"He's planning something, he phoned Pixel's work to order some things." Sportacus informed them, "It's lucky that the call came through to Pixel or we'd have had no idea. Things would have got messy."

"Messy how?" Stingy was confused.

Stephanie answered his question, "About as messy as things can get with a catapult and twenty four eggs."

"That sounds like it could have been awesome!" Trixie laughed, sobering quickly when she realised the others weren't joining in her humour, "So what happened?"

"I recognised his voice and rumbled him," Pixel finished, "As soon as he knew it was me he disappeared off the line. Needless to say I didn't put the order through and came straight out to tell these guys after I cleared it with my supervisor to take a copy of the recorded call. I phoned my supervisor while Sportacus and Stephanie were out getting the three of you, I've asked him to keep an ear out in case Robbie tries to phone in another order, if he does he'll let me know. I suggested that rather than make Robbie suspicious he takes any orders and fulfils them as normal, he just lets us know what they are."

"That's a good idea," Sportacus praised, smiling.

Pixel opened his mouth to reply but was silenced by three quiet raps on the door. Narrowing his eyes, Sportacus moved to the door, motioning to Stephanie, the Mayor and Bessie to step back. Placing his hand on the door knob he turned it slowly, a familiar quiff of slicked black hair sticking up visible through the small windows in the front door. With caution, and the feeling that anything could be waiting outside with Robbie, he pulled the door open.

Robbie gave his warmest, most terrifying smile as the door opened. "Hello there, Sportafl-"

"Cus," Sportacus interrupted, not returning Robbie's smile.

"Of course," Robbie chuckled awkwardly.

"What can I do for you, Robbie?"

"I was wondering if I could join the party, of course I apologise for that little misunderstanding earlier over the phone with Poodle."

"My name is Pixel!" Pixel shouted from inside the house.

Looking back into the house and making sure Pixel was calm, Sportacus turned back to look at Robbie. He felt a hand on his shoulder and tilted his head slightly, bringing his ear round to Stephanie who had come behind him.

"Let him in," She whispered, "I'd rather he was here where we can keep an eye on him instead of out there where he could be trying anything."

Sportacus nodded, she had a point. As Stephanie moved aside he opened the door wider, standing out of the way to let Robbie through. Robbie smiled, entering the house and looking around him, nodding hello to the others who did little in response.

Approaching Stephanie, Robbie held up a small box he was holding in his hand. "I bought these for you, a small gift to say 'happy anniversary'."

Instantly taken aback and suspicious at Robbie's curious generosity but not wanting to seem rude, Stephanie took the chocolate box from him with a quiet, "Thanks." Looking over the box she could see it looked shop bought, it was wrapped in cellophane that appeared to have been untampered with.

"I have a receipt, if you feel you need to see it." Robbie offered, seeing the distrust still lingering in Stephanie's features.

Stephanie looked up, surprised, "Oh no, no it's fine. Thank you, it was a really nice thought."

"You're welcome," Robbie returned before looking at Sportacus, "Of course I couldn't forget you. Obviously you can't have chocolate but you can have one of these." Out of his waistcoat pocket Robbie produced a delicious looking apple, "Fresh from the tree," Robbie added, passing it over to uncertain Sportacus.

"Thank you, Robbie. Can I get you some punch?" Sportacus motioned over to the punch bowl Mayor Meanswell had pulled out, fresh from the fridge.

"No, I can help myself, thank you." Robbie smiled, seizing upon the opportunity he'd been waiting for. He walked over to the punch bowl, smiling at the Mayor who moved over to join Stephanie and Sportacus. Taking up the ladle next to the bowl he scooped himself up a glass of punch, turning around and asking, "Would anyone else like some?" There was a general murmur of agreement in response that was soon replaced with general chatter amongst the group.

Making sure no one could see him, he slipped a small sachet from his sleeve, silently tearing the top from it and releasing the powder inside into the punch bowl. He smiled to himself as he mixed it in, filling everyone a glass.

This was panning out better than he'd thought, at least until he realised he'd forgotten which glass was his.


	8. Chapter 8

"Robbie's up to something." Sportacus whispered, leaning close to Stephanie, never for a second taking his eyes off of Robbie.

Stephanie shot a quick glance over to Robbie, seeing only his back as he leaned over the punch bowl. "Isn't he always?"

"True. Whatever it is he's doing I'm going to stop it, now." Standing up straight, Sportacus walked over to Robbie – placing his hand on Robbie's shoulder, making the other man jump. "How's the punch coming, Robbie?"

Robbie twisted his neck round to look at Sportacus, smiling nervously, his lips twitching as he looked for an answer. The weight of the hero's hand on his shoulder and the grip that it had on him made it harder for him to think of a lie good enough to hold water. Unable to come up with anything and feeling the hero's ice blue eyes burning into him he simply replied – "Nothing,"

"Nothing?" Sportacus frowned slightly.

"Er….what was the question?" Robbie chuckled nervously, turning around fully and breaking the hero's contact with his shoulder.

"I asked how the punch was coming. What are you doing, Robbie?"

"Like I said….nothing." Robbie bit his upper lip, his nose twitching with the lie.

Choosing to call Robbie's bluff, Sportacus reached out and picked up one of the glasses of punch that the villain had poured from the bowl. He lifted the glass and handed it to Robbie, the others behind him intrigued by what was going on and observing the situation, getting up from their places at the table and moving closer. Sportacus could see the villain squirming as he held the glass, knowing what would happen next.

"Is something wrong, Robbie?" Sportacus asked, innocently.

Robbie shook his head, forcing a smile and tentatively taking a sip from the glass. His face wrinkled as he swallowed. He was trapped and he knew it, as he felt the tainted liquid slide down his throat he wondered just long he had before it took effect. There was a small hope in him as seconds ticked by that Sportacus had given him the glass he had poured for himself, the one without trace of the powder he had poured into the punch. He allowed himself an internal smile that he may have gotten one over on the hero at least this once and in a small way.

His imagined mini victory was short-lived when he felt his stomach begin to gurgle.

The transition from casual indifference to sudden panic playing across Robbie's face would almost have been comical to watch, with the accompaniment of the crescendo of growls emanating from his stomach, had he not bolted towards the door – the contents of his glass spilling over Stephanie and soaking her top as he barged past her, knocking her into the wall. Sportacus turned swiftly in a motion to go after Robbie but stopped to aid Stephanie, deciding that Robbie would be better dealt with later.

"I guess the punch is off then," Trixie quipped, moving towards the kitchen counter and leaning over the punch bowl.

Sportacus looked over at Trixie and shook his head before turning back to Stephanie who was hunched against the wall, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Stephanie nodded, looking up at Sportacus, "I'm just a bit wet." She smiled, indicating her shirt.

"Do you want me to get your bags from your car so you can change?"

"Yeah, that would be great thanks." Stephanie stood up, feeling her shoulder pull a little from where it had impacted with the wall when Robbie had pushed past her but she ignored it as she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her car keys.

Taking the keys from Stephanie, Sportacus moved outside. Jogging over to Stephanie's car he used the fob to unlock it, pressing the button for the boot. As it popped open he lifted it up, leaning inside to reach in for her bags. He lifted one out, smiling and shaking his head at the fact that even her luggage set was pink, reaching in for the other and revealing a smaller bag. Unsure whether Stephanie would need all three he held onto the other two and picked up the remaining bag, stepping back when a baby's rattle fell out of it.

Struck by curiosity, Sportacus looked back towards the house. He looked again at the rattle, then down to the bag it had come from. The zip was open, some of the contents visible. He could see some other baby related paraphernalia and he decided this was a bag best left in the car.

Placing it back he clenched his jaw and shut the boot, torn between whether to ask Stephanie about the bag or pretending he'd never seen it.


End file.
